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Upper Arlington initially was wary of entering into a regional agreement to curb job-poaching,
fearing that it might jeopardize economic growth.

But the city’s law department had other concerns, as well: The proposed truce on job-poaching is
actually a legally binding contract, one so vaguely worded that it would make the city vulnerable
to lawsuits.

“As law director, I like to think of the city as a person. And I have to ask myself, ‘Would you
let a person sign such an open-ended agreement like that?’ ” said City Attorney Jeanine Hummer,
who advised City Manager Ted Staton to reject the pact.

Still, the city is expected to pass a resolution “to showcase our support” for regional
cooperation. Bob Lamb, the city’s economic-development director, calls the idea “beneficial in
nature to the (city) and Columbus region as a whole.” But without substantial changes to the
document, such as describing specifically what it is, officials won’t sign.

Efforts to get Franklin County’s 14 municipalities to sign the pact have been ongoing for more
than a year. Mayors, council members and others have met frequently. And yet basic questions
persist about what the document actually is.

Columbus City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr. says it’s a memorandum of understanding.
Worthington officials, like Hummer, view it as a legal contract. And Steve Campbell, one of its
chief authors, says it’s simply an agreement.

In a report to Upper Arlington, Lamb wrote: “There are questions as to when a member of this
agreement would be in breach of the agreement” and which incentives would be in violation.

Poaching occurs when cities try to lure companies in neighboring cities whose tax breaks are
about to expire. The agreement allows the practice when the incentives, such as abated income tax,
are applied to new job growth.

Hummer said the agreement was not written by attorneys and is imprecise in its language.

The agreement was never intended to be a contract, said Campbell, Columbus Mayor Michael B.
Coleman’s director of regional-growth initiatives.

“I think this is an agreement among jurisdictions on how we are going to act,” Campbell said. “
We are agreeing on protocol and policy.

“I think she’s (Hummer) taking a very conservative view on how local governments work together
to obtain regional policy goals. None of us are interested in embarrassing each other or trying to
get someone for an unforced error.”

Pfeiffer said the group concluded that “we can’t put every ‘what if’ into the agreement. There
are just too many ‘what ifs’ people can think up.”Cooperation isn’t always legally enforceable,
Pfeiffer said.

“If a municipality signs on and then reneges, is there a remedy? No, in our view,” Pfeiffer
responded in an email. “Just a matter of honor. And we believe that the jurisdictions
that sign up will be honorable and will follow the protocol set out in the (memorandum).”

When officials first saw the document “the conversations among the group were, ‘Is this a
contract? ... What does this thing look like?’ ” said Worthington’s economic development director
Jeffrey Harris, who thinks the March 18 draft is a similar to a contract.

Worthington isn’t concerned about liability because the pact, once signed, would be renewed in
2013.

“If there are real, tangible risks, we can opt out by the end of the term,” Harris said.